The latest riot happened at the Alcaçuz prison, the largest prison in the state of Rio Grande do Norte in the northeast, according to the state government.

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Police and special military police forces were deployed to the prison, where the riot was still underway Saturday night, said Juliska Azevedo, a spokeswoman for the government.

The riot broke out after a fight between rival gangs PCC (First Capital Command) and Sindicato do Crime do RN (Crime Union of Rio Grande do Norte).

The São Paulo-based PCC was involved in the other fatal riots this year, authorities said.

This year's wave of prison violence started Jan. 1 when at least 56 prisoners were killed at the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus.

Victims were decapitated and their bodies thrown over the prison wall. Sergio Fontes, the public safety secretary for the state of Amazonas, said the riot started over control of the drug trade in prison.

As that riot was being quelled, four inmates were killed Jan. 2 at the Prison Unit of Puraquequara in Manaus.

In the neighboring Roraima state, 33 people were killed Jan. 6 at the Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo

On Jan. 8, four prisoners killed in the Desembargador Raimundo Vidal Pessoa public jail in Manaus.

Prisoners escaped from other prison units during the unrest.

Jose Carvalho da Silva, the interim director of the Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex, was removed Tuesday after the deadly riot and corruption allegations by two inmates.

Brazilian President Michel Teme and Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes recently announced the creation of a new National Security Plan to improve the prison system.

Brazil has the fourth-largest prison population in the world, with more than 622,000 people behind bars, according to its justice ministry.

Many prisons are badly overcrowded. The Alcaçuz prison has the capacity for 620 inmates but currently houses 1,083.